[Pain as an indication for functional TMJ surgery]

In 113 patients presenting with painful impediment of jaw function, which did not respond to non-surgical treatment, several kinds of functional surgery of the temporomandibular joint were applied. Comparison of the pre- and postoperative pain profiles of these patients show that good results from the surgery methods used could generally be expected when the patient, preoperatively, had pain restricted to the TMJ area with function. More unfavorable results were shown in patients with pain already present for years, muscular or bilateral pain as well as pain not related to function or pain at night. Continuous pain should only be seen as an indication for surgery with rheumatoid arthritis of the TMJ.